OKLAHOMA CITY—Kevin Durant, as so often is the case, knows the right thing to say. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward is not foolish enough to come into these NBA Finals and publicly contemplate the fascinating matchup between himself and Miami Heat star LeBron James. We’ll bait him, but he’s not biting.

He’s always going to tell us stuff like this, as he did on Tuesday after Game 1 of the series: “You know, I’m not worried about, like I said, the one-on-one match up. It’s just about the team, and (James) does such a great job of guarding everybody. We’ve got to figure out a way to try to get some easy points and just play hard on both ends. I can’t worry about which guy is guarding me, I’ve just got to play my game.”

When you’re done tallying the clichés, consider that no matter what Durant’s mouth says about the individual matchup with James, his brain is most certainly aware that James edged him for the MVP award this year, that James is still widely regarded as the best player on the planet, that he had to be happy with his Game 1 statline: 36 points, with a masterly efficiency quotient, making 12-for-20 from the field, 4-for-8 from the 3-point line and 8-for-9 from the foul line.

MORE FROM SPORTING NEWS

Round 1 of the individual matchup that the two individuals involved won’t acknowledge belongs firmly to Durant.

“We'll just try to keep our bodies in front of him as much as possible,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “That’s much easier said than done. But he broke free a few times to get in the paint for some easy ones, and some free throws got him going. He’s tough enough when he’s out behind the 3-point line with that size, his length. He can get those looks off pretty much clean any time he wants to, but when he gets the easy ones, the basket starts to really grow, and I think he was in a great rhythm tonight.”

That’s not to say that James was a slouch—far from it. James struggled at times, but when his shots were not falling, he did the right thing and attacked the rim. He wound up with 30 points, on 11-for-24 shooting, with nine rebounds and four assists. He got a pretty pathetic effort from his teammates, who wasted a rare offensive outburst by Shane Battier (17 points) in the process. His fellow stars, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, contributed only 29 combined points on 11-for-30 shooting, and while the Heat usually rely on their ball-hawking defense to create easy baskets, the team had only six steals, four by James.

No matter, because the LeBron-stinks-in-the-fourth-quarter storyline will be pumped up after Game 1, with James netting seven points in the final period, but doing so on 2-for-6 shooting with a turnover. He made 3-of-4 free throws, so it shouldn’t be said that James was hiding from the pressure situations (though it will be said). Still, that so-so performance late in a game that was within five points with 1:38 to play only looks worse when placed next to what Durant did in the fourth—17 points on 6-for-10 shooting, four rebounds and an assist.

Where James was trying in the fourth quarter, Durant was doing. “He was doing that in the last series, too. He has been doing it all year. I don’t have words to describe how important it is,” Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha said of his teammate—and he wasn’t at a loss for words because he primarily speaks French. There really is just no way to describe what a safety blanket Durant can be for this Thunder team when it gets into tight spots.

Now, it is James’ team that is in a tight spot, heading into Game 2 with a potential 0-2 deficit on the horizon. Durant—OK the Thunder—took the first battle, but James is hopeful that the Heat have some adjustments in them, or at least, that the ball will roll differently in Game 2.

“I think they made shots and we missed shots,” James said. “The couple offensive rebounds they got, they didn't make many mistakes in the fourth quarter. I don't think we made many mistakes in the fourth quarter. It's just they made more plays, especially offensively. They made more shots.”

As for Durant, he’s going to approach Game 2 one play at a time. Or something like that.

“I’m not trying to force anything,” Durant said. “For this whole playoffs, I’m just trying to play my game, be aggressive; and if I see a shot, I have to take it; and if I see a pass, I have to pass it. I have to go back tomorrow and watch film and see how I can get better, and hopefully I have a better game, too.”